Singles/EP’s this week

Dragon Jazznazer / Lady Fortune

·All releases are out now unless otherwise
noted

·All reviews written by Hans Jįkup Eišisgarš

Release of the
week:

JJ Kane; Drift Into The Blue

Caravan Music Promotions

“They read you Cinderella, how you hoped it would come true” – those are
the opening words of this CD by Caravan Music Promotions owner JJ Kane. I suppose someone like JJ kane would wish for a Cinderella
pop-story for herself as well and I must say, based on the material present, I wouldn’t be surprised if it actually
came true. That said, the singer/songwriter material on here isn’t that much different from whatever other female singer/songwriters
have been releasing in recent years, but there’s something about JJ Kane that just sticks out. Perhaps it’s the
Asian–beats in some of the songs or it’s just the fact that she’s good at this sort of thing. Either way
if you’re into the whole female singer/songwriter genre that’s so popular right now you should give JJ Kane a
try. Check out her PR-company at: www.caravanmusicpromotions.com (JJJJ--)

Other albums this
week:

Casaverde; Monata Claudia

Radioactive Bodega Music

The first thing I realized about this record was that the production just didn’t do
the music full justice. I was just laying around in my room. I had put three CDs on that I was to listen to in one sitting
and the last one was Casaverde’s “Monata Claudia”. I decided to keep it at a low volume this evening for
some reason, which was okay when I listened to the other two albums, but when it was time for Casaverde I barely heard anything
coming out of the speakers. I mean, it’s that kind of difference that there’s between Casaverde and other underground
artists with decent production. Otherwise this is a good record as such. Good power pop-rock, but the sound keeps me from
truly getting into it. www.radioactivebodega.com (JJJ---)

Dave King; Shades of Dave

Self-released

It surprised me that my computer recognized all the song-titles on this album when playing
it. I mean that barely happens with self-released albums. At least the ones that I get. Anyways, it’s a funny name this
guy has. He just should have been named David. That’d be perfect (get it. King David). Oh well, on to the music. Musically
Dave King is yet another addition to the ever growing American singer/songwriter genre. There are just so many of these artists
these days that you just can’t seem to separate talent from wanna-be’s anymore. Luckily I’ve been getting
a steady flow of great singer/songwriters lately and Dave King is definitely in that category with his intelligently written
lyrics and fragile acoustic folk-rock. www.davekingmusic.com (JJJJ--)

TheDave Rave Group; Everyday Magic

Bullseye Records of Canada

The first song by Dave Rave that I heard was his version of the Beatles’ classic “Here
Comes The Sun” (which was stunning by the way) featured on the new The Beatles Tribute album out on Bullseye Records
of Canada. But when putting this in, I realized that Dave Rave owes a lot to The Beatles. There’s actually a whole lot
of Beatles going on, especially in the choruses with nice vocal-arrangements and stuff like that. If I was to put a label
on this It’d probably be something like this: “The Kinks meets the Beatles” or something like that, because
that’s really what’s going on here most of the time – only with his own identity and updated for the new
millennium of course. www.bullseyecanada.com (JJJJ--)

Enthroned; Carnage In Words Beyond

Napalm Records

(Provided by Target Distribution)

Enthroned have been struggling within the black metal scene since 1993 striving for acceptance
and I guess that they’ve succeeded. At least they’ve been signed to a few well-respected (although not mind-blowingly
big) black metal labels and now they’re with Napalm Records. Musically they’re all about black metal but they
manage to sneak in a death-like lead here and there. It’s all done in a powerful manner, but we’ve heard better
black metal albums this year although this one isn’t bad. www.enthroned-horde.com (JJJ---)

God Dethroned; The Lair Of The White Worm

Metal Blade

(Provided by Target Distribution)

God Dethroned from The Netherlands is one of the death metal bands that I’ve always
loved to hate if you can put it like that. Don’t get me wrong, though, it’s not just a band that I picked to hate
or anything like that. I’ve never really gotten into anything they’ve done to this day. Their music has always
come across as boring and one-sided... And the lyrics, well, they’ve always bordered on moronic (which I am sure they
still do. Haven’t really bothered paying attention). Musically, however, God Dethroned have turned things up a notch
or two in making this a more varied offering than ever before by adding a more melodies to the sound and that’s a step
in the right direction to say the very least. www.metalblade.de (JJJ---)

Kilpi; Sahkonsinista Sinfoniaa

MTG (JJJJ--)

Kilpi; II Caso (2CDs)

MTG (JJJJ--)

A couple of weeks ago I reviewed a single by this Finnish band. The track was taken from
their new album “II Caso” which is a great CD, but let’s get back to that one in a minute. Before releasing
“II Caso”, these Finns have released “Sahkonsinista Sinfoniaa” which is an equally promising CD. The
musical style is melodic metal and hard rock with vocals that’ll go right in with people into AOR. The production is
crystal clear and everything is done professionally, down to the smallest detail. If these guys weren’t singing in Finnish
my guess is that they’d be signed to one of the bigger metal labels in a heartbeat. “II Caso”, their newer
album, picks up where the previous album left off, pushing the melodic metal even further. It’s a great album that should
appeal to all fans of melodic metal and forget about them singing in Finnish, will you? It’s good either way. There’s
also a bonus-DVD CD with this CD featuring videos and stuff like that. www.kilpi.com

M&R Rush; The Thrill of the Chase

Eminar Music

“Guns N’ Roses and Metallica is what I like to hear!”- that’s a line taken from one of the songs on this 11-track album from this
American band... And you believe them. Not because they sound all that much like either of those bands, but because they’ve
put us back about 20 years in time... To the eighties where it was all about playing melodic rock with guitar-solos, keys
and well-singing vocalists backed by just as good background vocals. In one word: Big AOR arrangements. This is the first
studio-recording from this band in 15 years, but let’s hope it won’t be 15 years for the next one. www.mandrrush.com
(JJJJ--)

Various Artists; It was 40 Years Ago Today – A Tribute To The Beatles (2CDs)

Bullseye Records of Canada

I guess if there ever was a band to be paid tribute to it would have to be The Beatles...
and mind you it has been done. But it’s okay, because they deserve it – even one more tribute this time released
by Bullseye Records of Canada. There are actually 50 tracks on this double CD. I can’t say that I know a lot of the
artists featured, but I can tell you that a lot of them are very good. As always with compilation CDs like this there’s
some stuff to weed out right away, but there’s also some stuff on here that’ll be played on my stereo quite a
bit after I am through with this review. Take “Here Comes The Sun” by Dave Rave/The Wretches and “Frank
Soda’s version of “I Feel Fine” – oh, those are great tracks that actually bring back the memories
of The REAL Beatles (of course you could also just pull out the real CDs for that, couldn’t you?). Two good CDs. My
only question is what happened to songs like “Yesterday” and “Help”??? www.bullseyecanada.com (JJJJ--)

Singles/EP’s this week:

Dragon Jazznazer; Dragon Jazznazer

Self-released

Here’s a three-track disc that was sent to me all the way from Japan. We’re
talking really cool instrumental jazz music, but not in a way you’d normally imagine jazz. Let’s call this psycho-jazz
or something like that. Track one features some of the meanest bass-playing I’ve ever heard in jazz and the two following
tracks have plenty of surprises for the typical jazz fan. Somehow the weirdest (and often most interesting) music always comes
from Japan. (JJJJ--)

Lady Fortune; Lady Fortune

Caravan Music Promotions

Here’s a four
track EP from this young British band that has only been together for six months. No doubt that these guys will be very good
in time, but six months might have been a little too soon recording these four tracks. They’re not bad tracks as such,
but they would definitely be even better if worked on for a little longer. But I take it that this band is a great live-band.
Or it has to be something because, according to the PR-company, these guys are now courted by Rough Trade. www.ladyfortune.co.uk(JJJ---)